My Little Pony (film)
My Little Pony (also known as My Little Pony: The Movie) is a 2016 animated musical fantasy film based on the television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which was developed as part of the 2010 re-launch of the My Little Pony franchise by Hasbro. It is the twenty-seventh film in the Hasbro Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen and based on a story and screenplay co-written by Meghan McCarthy, both Friendship Is Magic veterans. In addition to the series' regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain and Cathy Weseluck, the film also features the voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana as new characters. The film was produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media, using traditional animation created with Toon Boom Harmony. It premiered in New York City on May 24, 2016, and was released on June 3, 2016 in the United States and Canada through Lionsgate. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $245 million against a $10 million budget. Plot The ponies of Equestria prepare for their first Friendship Festival, which is overseen by Princess Twilight Sparkle in Canterlot. The festivities are interrupted by an invasion of monstrous storm creatures commanded by the broken-horned unicorn Tempest Shadow, who uses magical obsidian orbs to petrify Twilight's fellow princesses; Princess Celestia unsuccessfully urges Princess Luna to seek help south of Equestria, uttering "the queen of the hippo" before being interrupted. Twilight flees the city alongside her five pony friends – Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy – and her assistant, the dragon Spike. Tempest is contacted by her superior, the Storm King, who reminds her to gather all of Equestria's princesses in order to activate his mystical staff with their magic, promising to restore her horn in exchange. The seven friends travel to the desert city of Klugetown in search of the aforementioned "hippos". Feline con artist Capper falsely offers to guide the seven, secretly intending to sell them to settle a debt to a local criminal. However, he develops a genuine friendship with them after Rarity generously mends his coat. Twilight discovers an atlas that reveals the "hippos" to be hippogriffs, exposing Capper's treachery. Tempest arrives in pursuit of Twilight, forcing the seven to hide aboard a delivery airship. Tempest interrogates Capper over Twilight's whereabouts, but he deliberately misdirects Tempest to atone for deceiving the seven. The airship's birdlike crew reluctantly allow the seven passage during a lunch break, revealing themselves to be former pirates that have been forced into the Storm King's service. Rainbow Dash persuades the pirates to defy orders and take the seven to the hippogriffs' kingdom on Mount Aris, performing a Sonic Rainboom that inadvertently gives their location away to Tempest. Disgruntled by her friends' carelessness, Twilight engineers her group's escape in a makeshift hot air balloon, leaving Tempest to destroy the ship with the pirates and Capper on board. The seven reach Mount Aris to find the kingdom seemingly deserted. Following a singing voice to a fountain, they become trapped in an underwater cave where the singer, the seapony Princess Skystar, gives them air bubble helmets and takes them to her underwater home of Seaquestria. Skystar identifies her kind as the hippogriffs, transformed by a magic pearl used by her mother, Queen Novo, to hide from the Storm King; Novo demonstrates by turning the ponies into seaponies and Spike into a pufferfish. When Novo denies them the pearl to use against the Storm King, Twilight desperately attempts to steal the pearl while letting her oblivious friends distract the seaponies. Pinkie Pie nearly changes Novo's mind until Twilight triggers an alarm and is caught by the outraged queen, who banishes the entire group to the surface. Abandoned by her friends and ashamed over her actions, Twilight is abducted by Tempest and brought before the Storm King in Canterlot; Tempest gains Twilight's sympathy after divulging how her own friends shunned her for her dangerously unstable magic after she lost her horn as a filly. Meanwhile, after Spike alerts Twilight's friends to her capture, Capper, the pirates, and the hippogriff Skystar return to help them infiltrate Canterlot and mount a rescue. The Storm King retaliates by conjuring a tornado with his newly empowered staff, betraying Tempest as well. Twilight saves Tempest from the tornado and reconciles with her friends, successfully working together with them to take the staff and disperse the storm. The Storm King hurls an obsidian orb at the seven to reclaim the staff, but Tempest jumps in his way, petrifying them both. The Storm King's body falls and shatters, while Twilight and her friends use the staff's magic to revive the petrified ponies and repair the damaged city. The Friendship Festival resumes, and the ponies celebrate with all of the allies they have made on their adventure. Tempest, who is disheartened by her still broken horn, is convinced by Twilight to join them by producing a fireworks display with her magic, happily accepting the friendship of Twilight and her company. Cast :See also: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters *Tara Strong as Princess Twilight Sparkle, a highly magical and intelligent alicorn who is Equestria's Princess of Friendship, responsible for spreading friendship and harmony across the kingdom. She is also the leader of the "Mane 6" ponies. Rebecca Shoichet performs Twilight Sparkle's singing voice. *Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash and Applejack, two of the "Mane 6"; Rainbow Dash is a loyal pegasus with an adventurous spirit, and Applejack is an honest apple farmer pony. *Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, two of the "Mane 6"; Pinkie Pie is a party-obsessed pony filled with joy and laughter, and Fluttershy is a kind yet timid pegasus who cares for animals. Shannon Chan-Kent performs Pinkie Pie's singing voice. *Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a generous fashion designer unicorn and one of the "Mane 6". Kazumi Evans performs Rarity's singing voice. *Cathy Weseluck as Spike the Dragon, Twilight Sparkle's young and faithful assistant. *Emily Blunt as Tempest Shadow, an embittered unicorn once known as Fizzlepop Berrytwist who serves as the Storm King's second-in-command in order to repair her broken horn. On the development of the character, screenwriter Meghan McCarthy said, "We just arrived at this idea of a character who had come from Equestria, and had not had the positive experience that Twilight Sparkle and her friends had. It felt like a good counterpart to our heroes was to have a villain who didn't just not get friendship, but had a reason that she didn't understand it." McCarthy also called Blunt's performance "a big influence" on how the character was animated in the film. *Michael Peña as Grubber, a wisecracking hedgehog creature and Tempest Shadow's cohort. McCarthy said that Grubber "needed to be goofy" to counterpoint the "very straight-laced, hardcore" Tempest. Peña ad-libbed much of the character's dialogue, with McCarthy saying, "You get Michael Peña in a recording booth, and you just are like, 'Please just go and say funny things.' He will be there for hours, just giving you all kinds of really great material that was not something that we had originally scripted!" *Liev Schreiber as the Storm King, the despotic, satyr-like leader of the storm creatures who conquers lands in search of powerful magic to control the weather. On his acceptance of the role, Schreiber said that, because of his kids' exposure to his adult-oriented movie work, he wanted something more child-friendly for them to watch, noting his repertoire of violent, adult-oriented films. Comparing his character to Basil Rathbone, Schreiber said the Storm King "is prone to temper tantrums, and he's a little crazy. He has a wide range of behaviors." He considers the character to be "one of the more intense roles he's played". *Taye Diggs as Capper, a humanoid alley cat who is a cunning yet good-hearted con artist. Diggs, who was excited to appear in an animated film, says, "I'm very movement-oriented, so just looking at the way Capper is positioned, the expressions on his face, all enhances my performance. It's really cool." *Zoe Saldana as Captain Celaeno, a humanoid parrot and jaded pirate captain who is relegated to the Storm King's delivery service. Saldana says Celaeno "cares for her crew", adding, "She's a responsible, thoughtful, and empathetic leader. That's a terrific, very poignant message to give to children about leadership – that it's okay for you to want to be a leader as long as you know that the responsibilities that come along with it." *Kristin Chenoweth as Princess Skystar, an excitable seapony and magically transformed hippogriff princess. Chenoweth said of her character, "Let's just say she's been locked up for a while and is longing for friends." She joked that she dabbled in method acting for the role, making sure her hair was "on point for every recording session". *Uzo Aduba as Queen Novo, the benevolent ruler of the hippogriffs-turned-seaponies, and Princess Skystar's mother. The character is described by Chenoweth as "loving but also a little too strict and stern". Detailing her role, Aduba says, "She wants to protect her group to the best of her ability, and wants to create a life of peace and stability. She doesn't take any nonsense, and will do everything in her power to protect her family." *Sia as Songbird Serenade, a pegasus and famous pop star in Equestria. The character's design is modeled after Sia's likeness. Nicole Oliver, St. Germain, and Britt McKillip reprise their respective roles from Friendship Is Magic as alicorns Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance. St. Germain also voices Granny Smith, Applejack's grandmother, and Muffins, a cross-eyed pegasus alternatively known as "Derpy" in the series. Michelle Creber and Peter New voice Apple Bloom and Big McIntosh, Applejack's younger sister and older brother, respectively. Michael Dobson voices Bulk Biceps, a muscular pegasus. Samuel Vincent voices Party Favor, a balloonist unicorn. Adam Bengis voices Code Red, one of the Canterlot ponies. Brian Dobson voices Verko, a mole-rat crime boss in Klugetown. Max Martini, Mark Oliver, and Nicole Oliver respectively perform as three of Captain Celaeno's parrot-like crew: Boyle, first mate Mullet, and Lix Spittle. Michael Dobson, Andrew McNee, Tegan Moss, Sabrina Pitre, Rhona Rees, and Vincent all feature as assorted citizens of Canterlot. Richard Ian Cox, Michael Dobson, McNee, New, and Nicole Oliver also perform as denizens of Klugetown. Additional voices are provided by Alistair Abell, Caitlyn Bairstow, Julia Benson, Christine Chatelain, Brian Dobson, Paul Dobson, Rondel Reynoldson, Jason Simpson, Sarah Troyer, and Siobhan Williams. Production Development At San Diego Comic-Con International in 2012, Friendship Is Magic head writer Meghan McCarthy commented on the possibility of a feature film based on the series, saying that it was not in her control whether or not the film would be made. The film was announced on October 20, 2014, with Joe Ballarini attached as screenwriter and McCarthy as co-executive producer. Hasbro Studios president Stephan Davis said of the film that "I think it gives us an opportunity to tell a bigger story, that maybe we can't tell on television" and that "it's also an opportunity to broaden the franchise". During PonyCon AU on February 22, 2015, McCarthy said that the movie would be unrelated to the Equestria Girls spin-off franchise, and that the crew was "going all out on it, to make sure it doesn't just feel like an extended episode". Series director Jayson Thiessen and McCarthy were both confirmed as the film's director and screenwriter, respectively; Michael Vogel was also signed on as co-executive producer alongside McCarthy, with Hasbro executives Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis as producers. Rita Hsiao and Vogel were later announced as co-writers alongside McCarthy. On April 30, 2015, concept artwork and other information was officially revealed at PonyRadioCon in Moscow; the panel included additional plot details such as the main characters' transformation into "sea ponies" for a portion of the film. Casting he initial Lionsgate announcement listed the principal voice cast of Friendship Is Magic – Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, and Cathy Weseluck – reprising their roles alongside actress Kristin Chenoweth as a new character. On February 12, 2015, it was announced that Emily Blunt joined the voice cast. By April 27, 2015, actors Michael Peña and Uzo Aduba were in negotiations to join the cast. On May 16, Liev Schreiber and Taye Diggs were confirmed additions to the cast. On June 20, Ashleigh Ball stated through Twitter that she had begun recording for the film's songs. At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2015, singer Sia was announced to be portraying a new "pop star pony" character called Songbird Serenade. On January 11, 2016, it was reported by Variety that Zoe Saldana had joined the cast. Friendship Is Magic voice actress Nicole Oliver confirmed via Twitter on January 23 that she would also be a part of the film's cast, reprising her role as Princess Celestia. Animation Michel Gagné joined the film as an effects animator on November 19, 2014, taking an eight-month hiatus from an animated Spider-Man movie made by Sony Pictures Animation. In early March 2015, Gagné reported that Nik Gipe was hired onto the film's staff as his assistant. He also mentioned that the film was being animated using Toon Boom Harmony instead of the usual animation software Adobe Flash that is used in the television series. According to art director Rebecca Dart, they wanted to keep to the look and feel of the television show, and the use of Toon Boom Harmony enabled them to add "simple yet impactful changes" to the designs for the big screen, such as depth and shadows for their eyes and ears, and the impression of heart-shaped indentations on the bottom of their hooves. The production of the film ended by March 29, 2016. The production crew used simple 3D modeling in Autodesk Maya as to determine camera locations, lens, and angles, rough lighting, character and prop placement, and which way the characters would be looking and expressing. The pre-visualization crew were able to use the 3D backdrops that became more detailed throughout the film's development to integrate the simple 3D character models, and then were able to test the Toon Boom animations on top of these scenes using the placement established by Maya, helping to speed up the production. Music :Main articles: List of songs in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic § My Little Pony (2016), and My Little Pony (2016 soundtrack) The film's official soundtrack was released on May 22, 2016 by RCA Records. The film's songs and score were composed by Friendship Is Magic songwriter Daniel Ingram, who first announced at GalaCon 2015 that he would be collaborating with a live studio orchestra for the film. On his songwriting for the film, Ingram said, "I had to challenge myself to push beyond what had been done in the TV show; to write bigger, more epic." It was stated through the PonyRadioCon panel that the film would have a total of eight original songs. At Hasbro's Toy Fair investor presentation on February 17, 2017, it was announced that there would be seven songs. Around 5,800 pages of sheet music were created for all orchestral parts of the score. Recording for the score began on June 5, 2017, and finished on June 11. Sia contributed an original song to the film, "Rainbow", which was released as a single on September 15, 2017. A music video for the song later released by Entertainment Weekly on September 19. The video was directed by Daniel Askill and features a dance performance by Maddie Ziegler, a previous collaborator with Sia, intercut to scenes from the film. Danish band Lukas Graham also contributed an original song for the film titled "Off to See the World", which was used in the film's first trailer. Other artists included in the album are DNCE and CL. Release On August 7, 2014, Lionsgate announced that they would distribute and market the film worldwide except in China. The film was showcased at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on May 10 along with eight other Lionsgate features to help sell the film to international distributors. My Little Pony was originally scheduled for release in the United States on July 1, 2016, but it was subsequently moved up to June 3, 2016. Theatrically, the film was accompanied by a 5-minute animated short from Hasbro Studios web series Hanazuki: Full of Treasures. A private premiere screening was held at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 theater in New York City on May 24, 2016, eight days prior to the nationwide release date. Marketing :Main article: My Little Pony (2010 toyline) Numerous toys based on characters, sets, and props from the film were made by Hasbro, and a vast majority of the products was released on April 2, 2016. The 2015 PonyRadioCon panel included a brief preview for some of the planned merchandise being developed for the film, including T-shirts and graphics. On July 27, 2015, the My Little Pony Collectible Card Game hinted on Twitter about a new set of cards based on the film. Hasbro's toyline for the film was shown and promoted at Toy Fair 2016 and various other toy conventions. Several books and comics related to the film were announced: My Little Pony: Annual 2017, which contains "exclusive content from the My Little Pony movie" was released on April 10, 2016; and a "prequel" story released on April 1. On January 23, 2016, Hachette Book Group listed five different books for the film, all released on April 29, 2016. Books based on the film have been showcased at BookCon 2017 on June 4, with guest appearances by Andrea Libman and Ashleigh Ball. IDW Publishing released a four-issue comic book miniseries titled My Little Pony Prequel, with the first issue released on February 28, 2016. Viz Media released an art book for the film on April 29, 2016. A comic adaptation based on the film by IDW was released on May 27, 2016. A teaser trailer for the film was released online on February 9, 2016. The first full trailer debuted online on October 10, 2015. Another trailer was released by USA Today online on May 12, 2016. The same day, the official My Little Pony Facebook page hosted a live Q&A stream with two of the movie's characters, Pinkie Pie (voiced by Andrea Libman) and Twilight Sparkle (voiced by Tara Strong). Another trailer was played during the season 12 finale of America's Got Talent on May 20, 2016. On May 27, 2016, the official My Little Pony Facebook page hosted a live Q&A stream with art director Rebecca Dart, who drew a custom artwork of Rainbow Dash (voiced by Ashleigh Ball). Discovery Family – a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro – aired a The Making of The My Little Pony Movie special on September 30. It was watched by 18,000 viewers. Home media My Little Pony was released on Digital HD on September 6, 2016, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD on September 20, 2016. The film debuted in first place on the overall home video sales chart and in second place on the Blu-ray sales chart for the week ending on September 25, 2016. Its special features include a deleted scene, a music video for the song "I'm the Friend You Need", three featurettes starring the Mane Six, an exclusive Equestria Girls animated short, and the Hanazuki: Full of Treasures short bundled with the film's theatrical release. Reception Box office My Little Pony grossed $82.1 million in the United States and Canada and $163.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $245.6 million, against its production budget of $10 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was expected to gross between $10 million and $17 million from 2,528 theaters in its opening weekend. It received a one-week special run across 331 IMAX and IMAX 3D theaters from June 2 up to June 9. The film made $2 million from Thursday night previews which began at 5 p.m., compared to the first film's $4.6 million. On its opening day it earned $12.5 million (including previews), with $4.4 million (36%) coming from 3D showings. In its opening weekend, it grossed $35.3 million, finishing first at the box office. Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew stated that, any reasonable return from the film would be seen as a positive by Hasbro because it is tied to the toy line. Outside North America, the film was released in about 30 overseas IMAX markets, beginning Wednesday, June 1, with additional markets throughout the summer, including China on July 2. It opened across 40 markets the same weekend as its U.S. release, including big markets like the United Kingdom, Mexico and Russia, which is about 39% of its total international marketplace, and was projected to make around $36 million. It ended up grossing $33 million, which is down 11% when compared to the first film's same suite of markets, and had No. 1 debuts in 21 markets out of the 40. The top openings were in China ($26.1 million), the UK ($5.1 million), Russia ($4.8 million) and Mexico ($4.5 million). In the United Kingdom, it came in second place – behind Warcraft – with a £3.49 million ($5 million) seven-day opening from 513 theatres. Critical response The film received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 45% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Charming and sweet, My Little Pony will please its dedicated fanbase, even if it's unlikely to encourage non-devotees to gallop along for the ride." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Accolades References Category:Lions Gate Entertainment films Category:My Little Pony Category:2016 films Category:2016 animated films Category:DHX Media films Category:Canadian films Category:Canadian animated films Category:Films directed by Jayson Thiessen Category:Hasbro Cinematic Universe films